Machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances.



11176111 175. e ear/Maker.

Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET G. S. & G. R. BAKER. v MACHiNE FOR DlVlDlNG DOUGH ANDLIKE PLASTIC SUBSTANCES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 11. 1913.

v e. s. & e. R, BAKER. MACHINE FOR DIVIDING DOUGH AND LIKE PLASTICSUBSTANCES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. H. 1913. LlfiQfiQfi.

Patented Dec. '7, 1915.

2 SH EETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60.,wAsr-lmtvrtmv n, r.

GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER AND GEORGE RALPH BAKER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR DIVIDING DOUGH AND LIKE PLASTIC SUBSTANCES.

Application filed October 11, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, GEORGE SAMUEL Barren andGnoncn Ramon BAKER, subjects of the King of England, residing at London,in England, have inventedcertain new-and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Dividing Dough and like Plastic Substances, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to machines for dividing dough and like plasticsubstances, more particularly of that type in which a portion of doughfed into a hopper is cut oif therein by reciprocating knife and forcedby aweight operated plunger into one or more measur' ig chambers orboxes, which may have means for adjusting their capacity, and usuallyadapted to rock into and out of communication with said hopper.

In such machines hitherto constructed the plunger acts under the actionof the weight continuously upon the dough in the pressure-portion of thehopper below theknife, and if the capacity of the measuring chamber isso adjusted that a greater or less quantity of dough remains in saidpressure-portion of the hopper it results that on withdrawal of theknife the plunger acts to force the remaining dough upward or outward inthe hopper. Attempts have been made to remedy this defect by allowingthe knife to remain as long as possible in its forward position (that isto say, separating the pressure-portion from the remainder of thehopper) and then quickly withdrawing same, but it has been found'thatthe plunger which has been previously moved back on its return strokesucks air'intothe pressurespace below the knife, which air has to bedisplaced before a fresh charge of dough can enter.

The primary object of the present inven tion is to obviate the abovementioned disadvantages, and to this end consists in means forpreventing the action of the weight-actuated plunger on the dough aftera portion has been fed into the measuring boX until said box againarrives in communication with the hopper for a fresh charge, thusavoiding the dough being forced back into thehopper when the knife iswithdrawn.

The invention further relates to means for oreventin the airpocket or sace-above referred to in the pressure-portion of the hopper and this iseffected by imparting a slow return movement to the knife, thisSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1215.

Serial No. 794,577.

movement taking place at the same speed as that of the return movementof the plunger, and these movements being so controlled that during suchreturn movement of the plunger (the commencement of which varice withthe amount of dough remaining in the pressure-portion of the hopper),the knife is moving back with it. By this arrangementa suctional elifectis exerted on the dough, in the hopper above the knife thus causing thelower or pressure-portion of the hopper to be quickly refilled.

An embodiment of the invention is rep resented in the accompanyingdrawings,

in which- Figurel is a side elevation of a dough dividing machine havingthe improvements of the present invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 isa plan view of Fig. 1.

In saiddrawings, 1, 1 designate the side frames of the machine, 2 thehopper having the inlet 3, 5 the knife adapted to be reciprocatedhorizontally across the hopper, and 4 the plunger actuated by beingoperatively connected at 6 to the lever 7 provided at its opposite endwith a weight 8 which operates 1t in one direction. Said lever 7 ispivoted at 9 and is provided with an antifriction roller 9 with whichengages a cam 10 which operates the lever in the opposite direction.

11 designates the quadrant which contains any suitable number ofmeasuring boxes 12, the present machine being shown as pro-' vided withfour such boxes, said quadrant being mounted on shaft 13 and rocked bymeans of an arm 14, connecting rod 15 and crank disk 16.

All the parts above described are substantially known and it is to amachine of such construction that the present improvements are shown asapplied, although said improvements are equally applicable to othertypes of machines having the same general functions as described in thefirst paragraph of this specification.

The aforesaid weight 8 is pivoted at 17 to the lever 7 and is connectedto the machine frame at the points 18 by means of radius rods 19, sothat during the movements of said lever the weight is compelled tofollow a definite path. Securely attached to the weight is a ratchetrack or equivalent 20, the teeth 21 of which are capable of engagingwith a pawl or detent 22 pivotallymounted on the rear of the machineframe at 28, the pawl being operated engagement with said teeth by a cam27,

- which as shown is formed as part of the suspended by a link 29, thislatter end havby the cam 27.

crank disk 16 from which the quadrant 11 is operated. V

The rod 25 is shown mounted near one end in a bearing 28 and near theother end ing an antifriction roller 30 for engagement The pawl 22 actsto a 'rest the downward or active movement of the weight 8 and lever 7'and consequently the forcing or pressure action of the plunger 4.- Thepawl 22 is caused to engage the rack-teeth 21 as soon asthemeasuring-box 12 in the quadrant 11 moves away with its charge from thefeed-hopper 2, and remains in engagement with said rack-teeth throughsubstan-,

tially the entire range of rearward movement of the plunger l, that isto say, until the latter is about to commence a new forcing or pressurestroke, whereupon the pawl is released fro mthe rack-teeth by the cam 27acting tln'oughrod 25 and arm 24 which positively removes said pawl fromengagement and allows it to reingagethe rack by means of the spring 26,when the cam 27 ceases'to acton the rod 25. i

According to the amount of dough remaining in the hopper the pawlengages the rack at diiferent points thereof and during thereturn of theplunger, and consequent lifting of the weight of the cam 10 whichacts'on-the lever 7, the pawl trips over the rack-teeth until its finalrelease therefrom, which takes place when the weight is en-'tirelylifted, this time corresponding with that of-the extreme rearwardpoint of the plungers travel.- It will thus be seen that by providingsuch auxiliary means for temporarily supporting the weight while themeasuring-box is out of communication with the feed hopper that nopressure by the plunger is exerted on the dough until a fresh charge isto be forced into the box. 'Any appropriate or desired mechanism may beadopted for securing the proper sequence or cycle of movements of theparts, but as shown in the drawings the crank disk 16 which operates thequadrant 11 is actuated by interrupted gearing comprising a "partiallytoothed wheel 31 having stop portion 32 mounted on the same shaft assaid disk, and with which gears a partially toothed wheel 33 having'stopportion 34 mounted on a shaft 35 on which is also mounted the aforesaidcam 10 operating the lever 7. The knife 5 is moved through the rods 36'one at each side, one of which is pivoted atits rear end to a disk 37and the other to a wheel 38 forming part of a double interrupted gearingcomprising said wheel 38 on the same shaft as the disk and which ispartially toothed and provided with two stop portions39, and a partiallytoothed wheel 40 on shaft provided with two stop portions 4L1.

By this construction after a period of rest during which the hopper isopen for feeding in the dough, the knife is given a quick forwardmovement to close the hopper followed by a period of rest during theforcing of the dough into the measuring-box or boxes andthen a slowreturn movement at the same speed as that of the plunger while themeasuring box is out of communication with the hopper the gearing andcam 10 being so designed that when the forward edge of the knife on itsreturn movement reaches the forward face of the plunger (the mo ment ofreturn of which depends on the amount of dough remaining in the hopper)both knife and plunger move back together at the same speed.

4L2 shows a hand operable catch adapted to engage a rod 43 on the lever7 when the machine is out of operation. During working as shown thiscatch may be shifted onto a pin ll to hold it out of action. The gearingby which the shaft 35 is driven is omitted for sake of clearness as itforms no part of the present invention and may be of any appropriatecharacter.

Vi e do not limit ourselves to the particular construction, arrangementand combination of parts hereinbefore described and illustrated in thedrawings, since the same may be varied within limits prescribed by theappended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is 1. In a machine for dividing dough and like plasticsubstances, the combination of a feed hopper, a knife adapted to closeand open same, a plunger reciprocating in said hopper, a measuringchamber adapted for movement into and out of communication with thehopper, and means for preventing the action of the plunger on the doughin said hopper after the dough has been forced into the measuringchamber and the latter moved out of communication with the hopper anduntil said chamber again communicates therewith.

2. In a machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances, thecombination of a feed hopper, a knife adapted to close and open same, aplunger reciprocatable in said hopper, a measuring chamber adapted formovement into and out of communication with the hopper, a loaded leverfor actuating the plunger to force the dough from the hopper into themeasuring chamber and means for arresting the movement of the lever toprevent the action of the plunger on the dough in the hopper after thedough has been forced into the measuring chamber, and the latter movedout of communication with the hopper.

3. In a machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances, thecombination of a feed hopper, a knife adapted to close and open same, aplunger reciprocatable in said hopper, a measuring chamber adapted formovement into and out of communication with the hopper, a loaded leverfor actuating the plunger to force the dough from the hopper into themeasuring chamber, a toothed element carried by said lever and a detentadapted to engage said toothed element at different points according tothe amount of material remaining in the hopper when the measuringchamber has moved out of communication therewith, said detent arrestingthe movement of the lever while the measuring chamber is thus out ofsuch communication.

l. In a machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances, thecombination of a feed hopper, a knife adapted to close and open same, aplunger reciprocatable in said hopper, a measuring chamber adapted formovement into and out of communication with the hopper, a loaded leverfor actuating the plunger in one direction, a cam acting on the leverfor actuating the plunger in the opposite direction,a toothed elementcarried by said lever, a detent adapted to engage said element andarrest the movement of the lever and plunger while the measuring chamberis out of communication with the hopper, and means for releasing saiddetent from the toothed element when the measuring chamber reassumes itsposition of communication with the hopper.

5. In a machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances, thecombination of a feed hopper, a reciprocatable knife adapted to closeand open same, a plunger reciprocatable in said hopper, a measuringchamber adapted for movement into and out of communication with saidhopper, means for preventing the forcing action of the plunger on thedough in said hopper while the measuring chamber is out of communicationwith the hopper, and means for imparting a slow movement to the knife toopen the hopper at the same speed as the non-forcing movement of theplunger.

6. In a machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances, thecombination of a feed hopper, a reciprocatable knife adapted to closeand open same, a plunger reciprocatable in said hopper, a measuringchamber adapted for movement into and out of communication with saidhopper, means for arresting the action of the plunger while themeasuring chamber is out of communication with the hopper, singleinterrupted gearing for actuating the measuring chamber, and doubleinterrupted gearing for ac tuating the knife.

7. In a machine for dividing dough and like plastic substances, thecombination of a feed hopper, a reciprocatable knife adapted to closeand open same, a plunger reciprocatable in said hopper, a measuringchamber adapted for movement into and out of communication with saidhopper, a loaded lever for actuating the plunger to force the dough fromthe hopper into the measuring chamber, a toothed element carried by saidlever, a detent adapted to engage said toothed element to arrest themovement of the lever while the measuring chamber is out ofcommunication with the hopper, means for releasing the detent from thetoothed element when the measuring chamber reassumes its position ofcommunication with the hopper, a cam for producing return movement ofthe plunger, single interrupted gearing for actuating the measuringchamber, and double interrupted gearing for actuating the knife with areturn movement at the same speed as the return movement of the plunger.

In witness whereof we have signed this specification in the presence oftwo Witnesses.

GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER. GEORGE RALPH BAKER. Witnesses:

O. J. WORTH, W. E. ROGERS.

topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G."

